Eclipse Aviation’s announcement of a 180-airplane order yesterday signaled the launch of a very light jet (VLJ) air-taxi operation that will be based in Turkey. The Eclipse 500 order–including 120 firm sales and 60 options–was placed by Eclipse Eastern European distributor Etirc Aviation and is Eclipse’s largest European order to date. The Eclipse order book now stands at just under 2,700 airplanes.
“This is a funded order,” said Eclipse president and CEO Vern Raburn, and it is secured by a multimillion-dollar deposit. Deliveries of the Etirc Eclipses are scheduled to begin in the middle of next year and the last of the order should deliver by the end of 2009, he said. Etirc, which has already taken delivery of its first Eclipse 500 (S/N 9 in April) from an earlier order for 40 aircraft, will also be responsible for helping Eclipse obtain Turkish certification of the Model 500. EASA certification is expected by the end of the year.
